7-minute read
Polk County Commissioner Michael Scott called for a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 17, so residents could voice concerns and share ideas about a planned North Lakeland Government Center in Kathleen. The new center would replace the one currently housed in the former Sears building on Memorial Boulevard near downtown Lakeland.
Residents voiced opposition to the new center alongside additional concerns that some said were equally or more important: on-going flooding, increasing traffic and speeding, a lack of street lighting, and continued development.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that most of us live in Kathleen because it’s peaceful and because it’s quiet. If we wanted convenience, we would live on the south side,” said one resident. “Our government and our county commissioners are selling us out. And you’re selling us out because of money.”
The meeting lasted two and a half hours. Twenty-nine residents asked questions and shared their opinions. The crowd of 260 people often clapped in encouragement, at times shouting additional comments.
The meeting came to an end after county officials said they needed to be respectful of the church that had donated the space. Scott stressed that he would be willing to meet with residents as many times as necessary to ensure they feel heard.
After the meeting, attendees continued the conversation on Facebook. As of Wednesday, Feb. 18, over 850 people had signed an online petition to stop the project.
‘Feeding us candy and telling us lies’
At times during the meeting, interactions were tense between residents and Scott.
“This is not the town that I was raised in,” said a resident. “I’ve been here my whole life, and you guys are just feeding us candy and telling us lies. It’s wrong.”
Residents asked why the public did not receive more notice of the plan and why the Kathleen location was chosen.
“I don’t think we need the courthouses there. I don’t think we need anything else that pertains to the government,” said Jason, a resident born and raised in Kathleen. “Keep it in central Lakeland. We travel there all the time. Everybody else that needs something goes in there.”
Wade Allen, Polk County real estate services director, explained that the Kathleen site had been chosen after more than three years of searching. He said the Searstown location, currently listed for $8 million, is not big enough to meet the county’s needs and adapting it would be too expensive.
Mike Ward, whose family has lived in Kathleen for six generations said, “Every time I’ve been to the Searstown government center within the last five years, it’s been completely empty.”
Another resident asked, “How settled are we on the north Lakeland name? Because no one here can vote in the Lakeland anything. We’re Kathleen.”
“Kathleen ain’t North Lakeland,” said Ward.
Others were concerned about infrastructure, asking if Duff Road would be widened to accommodate increasing traffic. Scott assured residents that Duff Road would stay as it is because existing homes prevent its expansion.
Jay Jarvis, Polk County director of roads and drainage, said the county currently has around $5 million for a project to widen Kathleen Road. Once they have lined up the needed funds, it will take around seven years to complete the project, he said.
Residents asked for amenities for youth in the area. The county said they are considering building a library inside the new government center, an amenity that does not exist in their other facilities. Residents suggested a rec center, playground, pool, or park. Another asked for a police substation. Resident James Abercrombie suggested switching the locations of the Daughtery Road Park project and the proposed government center.
Jim, who has lived on West Wheeler Road since 1974, said, “I suggest that you should do a significant geological study when you go put your building up. That ground is very, very karst,” he said. “I know this because I spent 40 years as an insurance adjuster primarily doing sinkhole claims.”
Targeted by every developer
Scott pitched the new government building as a better alternative to another residential development of “150 homes or more.” He reiterated that the county has yet to design the building, so residents have an opportunity to give feedback that could actually influence the plan.
“That property was 100% targeted by probably every developer in the county to be single family homes,” Scott said. He said Polk County water retention code requires developers to follow guidelines for managing a “25-year storm event.”
“With us owning it, with us developing it, as the government facility center, we, as the county, can set higher standards for us,” Scott said.
“The plan would be to expand that pond that’s on Kathleen, to make it all one big pond, to handle the water off the government center and for what it currently handles. But not just to the 25-year event, to increase that, to hold more water, to the 100-year event.”
In response to traffic concerns, Scott said it would be less of a burden on infrastructure compared to that generated by a subdivision. As a government facility, “It’s not open on weekends. It’s not open on holidays. It’s not open at nighttime.”
Residents raised questions about the methods used by the county to purchase the property.
“I know for a fact that that seller has turned down every offer to sell for the last ten years,” said one resident. “So my question is, did the county plan to eminent domain or condemn it if she did not sell it last week?”
Allen said he was very familiar with the land owner. “She is probably older than the most in this room … without any heirs to speak of,” he said. “She had talked about selling it to us in this year. We were hoping that was going to happen, but we were preparing for the use of eminent domain, possibly.”
At this answer, murmurs went up from the crowd in the room and a man shouted and stormed out of the church. Two or three others followed him out the door.
‘A lot more to worry about’
Community members raised concerns about ongoing issues with flooding in the area, especially during and after Hurricane Milton in 2024. “What are you going to do about our backyards?” one person asked.
Jarvis said the county has allocated funds for a permanent pump to help alleviate standing water.
Others brought up issues with traffic. “The speeds on Kathleen are ridiculous. It’s not unusual to see people coming around the curve … doing 60 to 70 miles an hour.” Many raised concerns about the safety of children and buses traveling to and from schools in the area.
Another speaker raised concerns about street lights. “Many of them do not work. We’re talking about structures that we are building, but nothing around here is being maintained.”
“My daughter, who has to walk to the Kathleen Middle School, has to carry a flashlight,” he said. “The entire bus stop is in the complete dark. I have found homeless people sleeping in my front yard. It’s dark. I have had to pay out of pocket for a streetlight.”
“Sounds like you guys got a lot more to worry about than a government center right now,” said a resident. “So I think that should be the last thing you guys should be thinking about right now, if you can’t get a traffic light fixed.”
Several residents encouraged their neighbors to vote in local elections. “I got up here to remind each and every one of you, this is why your vote matters,” a resident said.
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My family helped settle Kathleen, my great-uncle was Kathleen’s first Marshall and I grew up and went to school there. I now live on the south side of Lakeland which county leaders have already destroyed the quiet, peaceful communities here with outrageous increased building, all in the pursuit of money. The one person said it best, our peaceful communities are being taken away for the love of money. And if people try to stand up and refuse to sale, their properties, some that have been in families for decades are literally taken from them by abuse of the eminent domain laws. I ask the county commissioners how long have you lived in Lakeland? I have been here for 72+ years, my whole life, with deep roots in Kathleen! These things frustrate me. If we wanted to live in over crowded places like Tampa or Orlando, we would have moved there.
Kathleen area really has to worry about flooding. The county or was it the city of Lakeland that has allowed so many new homes next to me that I now get Flooded on Every Hard Rain that comes around, And they do NOTHING TO CHANGE IT. I keep being shuffled around from person on who to call to HELP FIX IT. NO HELP. Water up to my house and NO ONE CARES. Peggy